DIY bug bivies

[STICK]

I was thinking about making a simple bug bivy. I was thinking about looking for some no see um mesh and a piece of something for the bottom. I want something enclosed, and waterproof on bottom. Something similar to the MLD Bug Bivy:

http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com...products_id=55

I was wondering if something like Lowe's would carry the no see um netting and then I could try to find some cheap piece of fabric (mayb from wally world or something) for the bottom.

I was thinking to just sew them together with a light weight zipper down the middle for the entry and then just sew a tab on either the four corners or probably just the top and bottom end.

I will be using it inside a tarp so I could just string it up to the tarp.

Anyway, suggestions or ideas? Links to some cheap but effective fabrics?

Thanks.

[Snowleopard]

I don't think Lowes will have anything that will work. Walmart doesn't usually have good quality fabrics for outdoor gear.

Probably you want a waterproof bottom.
Tyvek is supposed to work. Find at construction sites, or ebay; wash without soap to soften it.
Heat shrink window insulation like this is light waterproof and cheap. Lowes might have it. http://www.amazon.com/3M-2144W-Indoo...8347367&sr=8-4
Silnylon is probably best (silicon treated ripstop nylon, weighs about 1.3 oz/sq yard).
PU ripstop (polyurethane coated nylon) is more waterproof, sturdier but heavier (3 oz/sq yard).
You can make a bathtub floor, like a tent's. Take your bottom material and sew a box with sides 2 inches high; then water can't flow over the edge. Sew your netting to the top of the sides. You can probably rig a way to hang it from the tarp. You can sometimes get by without the zipper -- just make the front of it loose enough that you can just lift it up and get inside. You might want more protection from crawling bugs than this, but it's what I'd do unless I was worried about snakes or scorpions. You could spray the edges of your bottom with permethrin also to keep out bugs.
Get materials at:
http://thru-hiker.com/materials/breathable.php
http://www.owfinc.com/Fabrics/mesh&netting.asp

[Rocketman]

Why don't you make the Six Moons Design Meteor Bivy?

A professional grade plan for a DIY piece of equipment.

Just go to the Six Moons website and look for DIY equipment in the menu on the left, I think it was. Download the PDF and print it. Modify it to your hearts content. The cheap silnylon is from Noah Lambert but I lost the link. You might be able to find some mosquito net at JoAnn's or other fabric stores, but it isn't likely you will find NoSeeUm there. Quest Outfitters (also forgot the website) is one of several places that specialize in DIY backpacking fabrics.

Unless you have those tiny tiny bugs, Mosquito net is cooler because it lets the air circulate more easily. Depands upon where you go.

[d40mFc]

http://www.campingcomfortably.com/re...ep-screen.html

I've bought a couple of these. Had several thoughts about simple modifications including a floor, extra netting and such.

It is two little poles in sleeves with bug netting fabric, no floor, a single strap of light webbing between two of the pole anchors and a loose tail of netting to tuck around your bed. Entry is accomplished by lifting the edge at the head end of the sleep screen. At 10 ounces it probably doesn't qualify as ultralight for no bigger than it is. But it does provide a bug free zone around your head and room for an arm out of bed without risk of contact with the netting. The REI store here used to carry bulk bug netting in a couple varieties/colors I've not looked for it recently so I don't know if they still have it.

[leaftye]

Materials from Ray Jardine are pretty inexpensive.

[sclittlefield]

You can also find good prices for the necessary materials at Outdoor Wilderness Fabrics.

Should be a pretty simple project. Be sure to post pics when you do it!

[leaftye]

Ray Jardine is still 2-4 time less expensive. I think silnylon and noseeum netting is the way for you to go, but if you really want to save weight, go with nanoseeum netting and a cuben fiber floor.

[burger]

I don't really see the point of floors on bug netting. On the PCT, I used this mosquito net. It didn't have a floor, but it had several inches of extra material that you could just tuck under your sleeping pad or tyvek or whatever. I never had a problem with bugs getting in.

The floor is probably going to weigh as much as the netting in your bug shelter. And if you attach a floor, then you won't be able to use it without the netting on bug-free nights. Better to go floorless and take a separate piece of tyvek or whatever for sleeping on.

[sclittlefield]

If you want a floor, and want to make the project easy... try this.

Sew a silnylon floor right to this pre-made bugnet and you're all ready to go. You'd pay as much on netting by the yard as for a pre-made net with hang tag.

[Rocketman]

If you want a floor, and want to make the project easy... try this.

Sew a silnylon floor right to this pre-made bugnet and you're all ready to go. You'd pay as much on netting by the yard as for a pre-made net with hang tag.

Link doesn't work.

[sclittlefield]

Link doesn't work.

Sorry... it's a really strange site.

Try this: http://gazzosoutdoors.dealerease.net...ret_id=1071359

and search for: mosquito net

The single size is under $10. It even looks like it comes with a bottom, not sure though.

[STICK]

Snowleopard, how about if I used a piece of Tyvek (that I already have) to make a "bathtub floor" and bought the mosquito net that sclittlefield sugggested? Would the Tyvek hold a stitch?

[STICK]

What the heck, this is what I am going to do. Tell me if it will work.

First I am going to buy these materials from http://thru-hiker.com/materials/coated.php:

1) - 3 Yards of the 1.1 oz Silicone Impregnated Ripstop 1sts (60 in wide). (Under coated fabrics, bottom of the list.)
2) - 2 Yards of the Nanoseeum™ Netting (48 in wide). (Under Breathable Fabric, top of the list.)
3) - 2 Foot of Griptese Draw Cord with 1 Tiny Cord Lock (For stuff sack.)

I also need to get a zipper (would like it to be at least 48" long) but I don't want to spend $10 for a zipper. I can look around here for a light weight zipper for cheaper.
I will also need to get a small spool of thread as opposed to a large cone of thread. Any suggestions on the flavor?

The goal (that I am going to ask someone else to sew) is the MLD Bug Bivy:








I don't think that mine will be exactly the same, but similar. What I am going to do is take it to an alteration shop here in town and ask her to sew this thing for me. I am going to cut the pieces just slightly larger than what MLD has cut theirs. Theirs is 34" at the head and 30" at the foot. I will probably cut mine about 2 in wider just to have a little play room. (However I guess I could just ask the seamstress to cut it.) MLD has their final product cut at 82" long which sounds good to me.

So, I will cut the sil-ripstop for the bottom to size.
Then I will lay the full 48" wide piece of mesh over the top of the sil-ripstop and match up the top and side edges.The mesh will not reach all the way to the bottom so I was simply thinking of just cutting the sil-ripstop about 12 - 14 in longer so that it could roll back over the top of the foot and come back and meet the short end of the mesh.
Next just sew it all up. Sew the mesh right to the sil-ripstop. Cut a hole in the mesh for the zipper and sew it in.
Also, I should have plenty of the sil-ripstop left over to make a tiny stuff sack for it and I will use the 2 foot of Griptese Draw Cord with 1 Tiny Cord Lock for the top cinch.

This is what has run through my mind. Will it work?
Will the 1.1 oz silicone impregnated ripstop be suitable to use as the ground cloth layer? And if so how well will it keep water out if the ground is wet and I am laying on it without another groundsheet? Will water seep through and wet my sleeping bag?

And I know that this will vary, but I want it to be simple. Just a seam run down each side to connect the pieces together and then sew a zipper in the mesh. Would something like this typically cost a load to sew just because of the material? I have a friend that is able to sew basics but I am not sure if she would be able to handle the sil-ripstop. (Isn't it slippery to hold on to?) I don't want to have to buy this stuff twice.

Any comments.

[STICK]

Oh yeah, and do you think that the 48" wide mesh will make enough of a "tent" or should I go with the 54"? I wasn't planning on altering it to be a triangle shape like the MLD design rather just laid across the top of the sil-ripstop and of course with a zipper and I am getting to loops sewn in the top at each end of the zipper.

[Snowleopard]

Snowleopard, how about if I used a piece of Tyvek (that I already have) to make a "bathtub floor" and bought the mosquito net that sclittlefield sugggested? Would the Tyvek hold a stitch?

That would work OK. Yes, the tyvek should hold a stitch; it doesn't need any real strength. You can also glue it. I haven't sewn tyvek, but others have made tents of it.

Also, as Burger says, you don't need to sew the netting onto the floor; crawlies can get in but if you have it draped right mosquitos won't.

You don't absolutely need a zipper. You can leave part of a side unsewn and just lift it up to get in. Just make sure that it's long enough so that it is hanging onto the floor. Again, crawlies might get in.

[STICK]

OK, so I found a place that had it all a little cheaper, Quest Outfitters. This is what I got:

#1024 1.1 OZ SILNYLON 2NDS , (Gray) 3$6.30$18.90 #1202 NO-SEE-UM MESH , (Black) 3$3.25$9.75 #3061 MINI MINI TOGGLES inch 4$0.25$1.00 #2507 ROUND DRAWCORD - 3/32 inch Yellow 3$0.24$0.72 #4026 SILNET SEAM SEALER 1.5 oz 1$6.95$6.95 #2402 NARROW ELASTIC CORD - 3/32 inch Black 9$0.32$2.88 #2700 THREAD - 110 YD, (Dk Gray) 1$1.80$1.80
For the actual bivy:
3 yards of 1.1 oz silnylon (2nds) 61-62" wide
3 yards 1.1 oz/yd Noseeum mesh 54" wide
1 roll of 100% polyester, strong, durable thread by Gutermann
1 tube silnet sealer (also used for my new sil tarp!)

For the stuff sack:
Use some left overs from 1.1 oz silnylon
Drawstring:
3 yards 3/32" yellow round draw cord (cut to size-with extras for other stuff sacks)
Mini Mini Toggles (fits 3/32" round draw cord)

I got the 3/32" shock cord to make some shock cord tensioners to go with my tarp.

So, I will still do basically the same thing, except now I have plenty enough material to cut both the 1.1 silnylon and the no-see-um mesh the same size. In my mind this will make it easy to sew, right? I am picturing the two pieces laying on top of each other and then running a seam straight down all four sides. Then cutting a hole down the middle of the mesh the length of the zipper, pulling the bivy right side out and sewing the zipper in. I got the silnet sealer to just run a bead, but I may not, I mean it's mesh on the top. But now that I will have this and my silnylon tarp, it can't be a bad thing to have, right?

So how realistic is this plan of laying the 2 pieces on top of each other and sewing (like i just explained)? I hope it will work out, now that I have bought it! I hope the 1.1 oz silnylon will be durable enough for the bottom. I figure at least this should be a light-weight bivy if it works out right.

Any tips for cutting out designs for a stuff sack?

[Snowleopard]

"So how realistic is this plan of laying the 2 pieces on top of each other and sewing (like i just explained)?" It ought to work.

"Any tips for cutting out designs for a stuff sack?" Make a stuff sack first for easier practice. Brawney's video of making stuff sack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4xugh_Kvcw

[STICK]

Thanks.

And I'm not going to be doing the sewing. I will bring it to a seamstress. But I wold like to cut out the patterns first and them bring them to her ready to sew.

[JRiker]

if you're doing it this simply, why not sew it yourself? it seems pretty straight forward, but ymmv. i would just put the zipper on one of the side seams though, especially if a seamstress will be sewing it.

[boarstone]

I was thinking about making a simple bug bivy. I was thinking about looking for some no see um mesh and a piece of something for the bottom. I want something enclosed, and waterproof on bottom. Something similar to the MLD Bug Bivy:

http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com...products_id=55

I was wondering if something like Lowe's would carry the no see um netting and then I could try to find some cheap piece of fabric (mayb from wally world or something) for the bottom.

I was thinking to just sew them together with a light weight zipper down the middle for the entry and then just sew a tab on either the four corners or probably just the top and bottom end.


I will be using it inside a tarp so I could just string it up to the tarp.

Anyway, suggestions or ideas? Links to some cheap but effective fabrics?

Thanks.

Use sheer curtain material or the sheer curtain themselves (yard sales) comes in great colors too.